An Experiment Called Emerald
by bodiechan
Summary: Emerald, an experiment with a troubled past, tries to find the place where she belongs with the help of her friend Moody and her booshibu Gogo.
1. Prologue

NOTE: Moody belongs to Mags, known as fshlvr on this site. I don't tae credit for her in any way.

An Experiment Called Emerald: Prologue

Experiment 012, a small, fluffy green creature, ran across the street, dodging cars and finally scampering into the bushes. She sighed happily. She was safe—safe and very, very thirsty.

Glancing upward, 012 saw a cart with two experiments in it. One was blue and appeared to be made out of ice. The other was orange and had what appeared to be an extra hand on his head. They were serving the humans snow in little cups.

"Namitu!" cried out 012 thirstily, the Kweltikwan word for "water." There was no word for "snow," but water was close enough to snow for her.

The blue experiment turned his head. "Naga namitu," he told her, "isa shaved ice."

She cocked her head and stared at him. "Shaved ice?"

He nodded and then said in Kweltikwan, "It's flavored frozen water. Wanna try some? You look like an experiment. My name's Slushy."

She nodded and said in her language, "Sure, I'd love to try some. My name is…" She tried to invent a name out of midair. Ruby? No, she wasn't a red experiment.… Diamond? No, too vain-sounding.… How about… Emerald! Yes, Emeralds were green and so was she!

"…Emerald," said 012. "My name is Emerald."

"Okay, Emerald." Slushy smiled, handing her a container of shaved ice.

_Emerald._ Emerald smiled as she slurped her shaved ice. She liked her name already.


	2. Chapter One: New Friends and a Booshibu

An Experiment Called Emerald: Chapter One

New Friends and a Booshibu

After finishing her shaved ice, Emerald went to the beach. She sat on the sand and watched the waves gently licking the shore.

_This, _she thought happily, _is truly what life is about._

"LOOK OUT!"

Emerald leaped out of the way just in time to see a golf cart drive over where she had been sitting a moment before. Breathing heavily, Emerald stared the fast-moving vehicle and the man inside it.

"Sorry, little dude!" he called. "But I can't stop this thiiiiiiiiiiiiiing…" The cart was moving quicker than lightning, and soon his screams died out and the gentle push and pull of the ocean returned.

"Can't stop the golf cart? What an idiot." Chuckling, Emerald walked back to her little spot on the sand.

But someone was already sitting there.

He a tall, fat, brown experiment with a squashed face and a big nose. He smiled at her, and gestured at the sand. "There's room for two."

She cautiously sat down next to him. "Hi! I'm Emerald. Who're you?"

"I'm Experiment 137. I don't have a name," he told her. "Maybe you could help me think of one?"

"Well, what do you do?" she asked.

137 giggled. "I make people into reckless drivers."

Emerald gasped. "It was you! You made that golf cart almost kill me!"

"No," he said, "that's not what happened! It's a _go_-cart that I bewitched."

She laughed. "How about 'Gogo' for a name?"

137 grinned. "I knew you'd think of something, Emerald. Gogo… hmm… I like it."

"Heh… yeah." Emerald took a good look at him. "Gogo."

"Hmm?"

"Oh, never mind. Just—just saying it."

Gogo took her hand in his and looked at the sunset. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

_Like you_, thought Emerald dreamily. _Wait, where did _that_ come from?_ "Yeah," she replied, "beautiful."

When Experiment 625 was sleeping, Moody snuck out of the ship. She was a small white experiment with a color-changing stomach. And she was going for a walk in the moonlight.

Moody was thinking about life and not paying attention to where she was going. Her feet led her to the beach. She sat on the sand and watched the waves, not knowing that her cousin had done the exact same thing a mere few hours before.

Gogo walked out from a grove of trees. He saw Moody's back and, in the dim light, assumed it was his friend's. "Hey, Emerald!"

She turned, and her belly became yellow—he was happy. "Emerald? I'm Moody."

He smiled weakly. "Sorry… thought you were someone else. I'm Gogo."

"It's fine." Moody patted down the sand, her belly turning pink for Gogo's embarrassment. "C'mon, sit here with me, Gogo."

"Actually, I'm looking for someone," Gogo replied. "She's an experiment, about your height. Green fur, long antennae, poofy tail, and a white diamond-shaped patch on her chest. You seen her?"

Moody shook her head. "Nope. Sorry."

"Darn it," he muttered. "Gotta try someplace else."

"Gogo, wait!" Moody cried. "Which experiment are you? I'm 623—" But he'd already disappeared into the darkness.

Gogo searched everywhere, but he still couldn't find where Emerald spent her nights. She actually slept somewhere different every time, and that particular night she was curled up inside the shaved ice cart with her good pal Slushy.

Slushy woke her up very early in the morning. "Emerald! Emerald!"

"Whaaaaaaaat?" she moaned, rolling over.

He growled angrily and kicked her. "Get up! Customers will start coming soon."

She bit his foot.

"Okay, okay, you can sleep in a bit," said Slushy, "but I guess you don't want shaved ice for breakfast, huh?"

Emerald opened her eyes.

Emerald walked down the sidewalk, trying to keep _him_ off her mind. She knew that she and Gogo could never be together as a couple, but still… she could dream…

Moody, walking in the opposite direction, didn't see Emerald coming along. Moody looked up at the sky and smiled.

"It's a nice day out," she said to herself, watching a butterfly land on her nose. She giggled. "Hey, that tickles!"

Emerald was looking at the ground, still thinking about Gogo, when she crashed into another experiment! Emerald pulled away, ready to run. But the experiment seemed friendly, and so she asked…

"Who are you?"

Moody's belly turned green—Emerald was scared. She realized that the other experiment must have been very shy.

"I'm Moody," she replied, "Experiment 623. And who're you?"

Emerald smiled. There was no need to be afraid of 623.

"My name is Emerald," she told her, watching Moody's belly change to yellow. "Why is your belly changing colors like that?"

Moody cocked her head at the experiment. "I'm a mood detector. My belly's saying that a few seconds ago you were scared, but now you're happy."

Emerald smiled. "_My _belly lights up when I find a gem."

"A gem? Which experiment are you?"

"Number 012," Emerald replied.

Moody gasped. "012? But you're…"

Emerald realized she'd let something slip. There were secrets in her past too dark for her new friend to know. "Um, no, I messed up. I'm experiment _2_12."

Moody looked at her quizzically. "I thought 212 was Clockwork."

"Uh, no, he's experiment 012," Emerald lied. "I gotta go now."

And with that she ran off.

_How long can I keep hiding this inside?_ Emerald wondered miserably, walking back to the beach. _If anyone finds out that I'm Experiment 012… if anyone finds out I ran away…_ She shook her head. _But no one's _going_ to know. What was I thinking?_

Moody walked into Gantu's ship, still puzzling about the experiment she had seen. 625 waved at her from table. "Hey, Moody, I made ya a sandwich."

Moody grinned at him. "Thanks."

"Wait a second…" Gantu leaned over and sniffed Moody, who giggled. "I know that smell!"

"What is it, Loser-Breath?" asked 625.

Gantu grunted. "I smell abomination."

625 laughed. "That's just Moody, Fish-Face."

But Moody thought it might have been Emerald. Maybe some of the experiment's smell had rubbed off on her?

625 smiled. "C'mon, Moody, your sandwich is getting cold."

Again, Moody couldn't sleep that night. She went to the beach, and was surprised to find Emerald already sitting in her spot.

Emerald turned. "Hi, Moody."

Moody sat down next to her friend. "Look, Emerald, I know what you're hiding."

Emerald sighed. "No you don't."

"Emerald, I can help," said Moody. "Just tell me what happened."

Emerald looked into her eyes. "Don't tell my booshibu," she whispered. "He doesn't know."

Moody nodded. "Gogo?"

"Yeah." Emerald looked out at the horizon. "It all started when I was created…"


	3. Chapter Two: Secrets of the Past

An Experiment Called Emerald: Chapter Two

Secrets of the Past

"…Jumba made me to find jewels and gems for him, so he could sell them and pay the bills. I was happy to be of service. After all, it was me and my cousins I paying for, right?

"And then he made Experiment 014, the shiny-things-eater. 014 kept finding Jumba's stash of gems and eating them, and Jumba worked me harder, harder, harder… he said that if I didn't find enough jewels in time, he would un-make me!

"After a while, I heard Jumba talking to Hämsterviel over the phone… it turned out that he was using my gems not to pay the bills, but to repay Hämsterviel! He'd borrowed millions and millions of kwelticreds from the evil hamster, and he needed me to help him repay his debt!

"Well, of course, Jumba forgot about the bills and we experiments were left in his lab in darkness… except me, who he still expected to be in the mines, finding him gems. And then I got mad at him and we had a real big fight…

"And then I ran away, and he's been trying to find me and un-make me ever since."

Moody listened to Emerald's speech in silence, as her belly turned blue, for sadness. Finally, she told her friend, "You're not safe from him here. Jumba's here in Kauai, Emerald."

Emerald nodded. "I know. That's why _I'm_ here. He wouldn't expect me to hide in the place he's looking."

Puzzled, Moody wondered aloud, "But what if he finds you?"

Emerald shrugged. "I'll escape. I hear ol' Jumba's not as fit as he used to be."

Moody grinned. "He's definitely not."

"Yeah…"

The sun had set.

"Wanna come back to the ship with me?" asked Moody. "Like a sleepover!"

"Don't have anything better to do," said Emerald, and she followed Moody back to Gantu's ship.

"We gotta sneak in the back so Gantu can't see us," Moody whispered, as she and Emerald walked up to the ship.

Emerald nodded. "Why do you live with him again?"

Moody sighed. "625 lives here too. He's my booshibu."

The two experiments walked in through the back door. They climbed into the bedchamber where Gantu and 625 were sleeping.

"_Shhh_," hissed Moody. "We don't wanna wake them up."

"Where can I sleep?" Emerald asked.

"I don't know," Moody replied.

Emerald glanced at Gantu tossing in his sleep. "Hey, maybe this wasn't the best idea after all…"

"Do you want to go home?" Moody whispered.  
"Yeah," said Emerald slowly, "except for one thing. I don't _have_ a home."

"Sorry I put you in danger. Gantu will definitely find you if you stay here." Moody smiled. "Unless you leave super-early tomorrow morning, before he gets up. Like five o' clock maybe."

Emerald shook her head. "I think I'd rather go home."

"Where will you sleep?" Moody looked worried, but her stomach was purple: mixed emotions. She would have given anything to know what Emerald was thinking.

"Maybe I'll find Gogo or Slushy, and they'll give me a place to live. I don't know." Emerald shrugged, and attempted to climb out the window. "Bye. Thanks for everything."

Moody wanted to help the poor homeless experiment, but she knew that meant putting Emerald in danger of being caught. She wanted to tell her to be careful, or to find Lilo and Stitch who would give her a home. Moody wanted to make Emerald stay with her in the ship, or call the animal shelter to take her in.

"Bye, Moody," Emerald said again.

So many thoughts went through Moody's head, her purple belly, her big, sad eyes. But all she said was, "Goodbye, Emerald."

Emerald smiled. And then she was gone, vanished into the darkness of the night.


	4. Chapter Three: Emerald the Fish

An Experiment Called Emerald: Chapter Three

Emerald the Fish

Wandering around a golf course at night when you have no intention of playing golf is not exactly the most fun thing in the world to do—unless you're an experiment designed to make people into crazy drivers! Then it's actually quite amusing. And Gogo definitely found it so.

As golf-cart after golf-cart sped down the path, Gogo smiled at his work. "Okay, I've caused enough havoc for one night."

Chuckling, he headed towards Hole 19, the snack bar and place to rest after 18 holes of golf. But he was going there for a different reason.

Gogo was going home.

As he pushed open the door to Hole 19, a voice cried, "137! Hey, dude!"

It was Mac, a human who lived in Hole 19 like Gogo. The two of them were great friends. Mac had never once questioned what Gogo _was_, and for that, Gogo owed him one.

"Hi, Mac," Gogo replied. "How's it going?"

Mac shrugged. "Never mind me. But I didn't see _you_ here last night, or all of today either. Where were you?"

"I was looking for a friend," said Gogo. "But never mind me. How are _you_?"

Mac grinned. "You're a real pain, 137, you know that?"

"My name's Gogo now," said Gogo. "You like it? A friend gave me that name."

"Aw, but 137's an _awesome_ name, dude," Mac moaned. "I wish my parents had called me a number when I was born."  
Gogo smiled. Mac didn't know the half of it.

A few hours later, Mac had fallen asleep in front of the TV and Gogo changed the channel, bored. He flipped through the news, a show on cooking, and a cartoon about a boy who fought ghosts in his spare time. Finally he found a car race on channel 3 and put down the remote.

Entranced by the fast-moving vehicles on TV, Gogo didn't hear someone knocking on the door until almost five minutes after they had started. Finally he noticed the steady sound of a hand on wood and opened the door.

It was Emerald.

Her green fur was sopping wet and sticking to her skin, and she was shivering from the cold. Her big eyes wide with misery, she whispered, "Hi, booshibu."

"Emerald!" cried Gogo. "Where have you been? Why are you so… _wet_? What _happened_?"

"It was namitu," said Emerald softly, "falling from the sky. It wouldn't stop."

"Rain?" asked Gogo. "Oh, Emerald, you poor thing…"

He took her inside and gave her a towel to dry off. "You hungry?"

Emerald nodded. "Very."

"What are you in the mood for, Em?"

"Whatever you have."

"We got soup."

"That sounds nice. Is it hot?" Emerald was still cold from the rain.

"Yeah, Mac and I had it for dinner." Gogo smiled at her.

"Mac? Who's he?"

"Oh, I forgot…" Gogo walked over to Mac and shook him. "_Mac! Mac!_ Wake up!"

"Is it breakfast time already?" mumbled Mac.

"Nah, the police are here to inspect Hole 19. Thought you might wanna know."

Mac bolted up. "_What?_ Where are they?"

Gogo chuckled. "Just kidding. Mac, this is Emerald, my… erm…" He looked at her quizzically.

"Cousin," said Emerald softly.

"…my cousin. Right," said Gogo. "Em, this is Mac."

"Hi, Mac," said Emerald.

"So, you're 137's cousin, huh?" said Mac. "You got a number too?"

Emerald nodded. "I'm number 0—" She caught herself mid-sentence. "I mean number 212."

"Wicked," said Mac, in awe.

"212?" asked Gogo. "I thought that was Clockwork."

"Naga, he's 012," said Emerald, reusing the lie she'd told Moody. It felt bad to lie to her booshibu. _But hey, it has to be done,_ she told herself. _If he finds out what I told Moody, then maybe he won't want to be my booshibu anymore?_

But she still felt guilty.

Emerald left in the middle of the night. _It's what Moody said,_ she told herself, _I'm not safe from Jumba here. Best to keep moving or he'll find me._ But she knew that wasn't the real reason. She was leaving because she was afraid.

Afraid that Gogo would find out her secret.

She went to the beach and watched the waves crash on top of each other. Next to her favorite sitting-spot, there was a sign with strange creatures on it. They looked like Experiment 602, she realized, and the sign called them… "fish." Apparently, they lived in the ocean. And suddenly Emerald wondered, _What if _I_ could live beneath the waves?_ What if she could…?

She probably could. But she was too afraid to try. _Scaredy-experiment!_ teased a voice in her head. Emerald ignored it.

Gogo woke up to the sound of rain pounding on the windows. He sat up and yawned. "Em, you awake?"

No one answered.  
"Emerald?"

Gogo pulled back the covers on the bed he had made her. "Emerald?"

His heart sank.

Emerald wasn't there.

Moody couldn't stop thinking about Emerald. Where was she? Was she with Gogo, or had he turned his booshibu down? Was she out in the rain, lonely and lost? And, most importantly, was she safe?

Moody got up and went to the beach. As she breathed in the salty air, she smiled, and even forgot about her troubles for a moment. The beach always calmed her down, even in the rain…

More rain, of all things! Emerald started to cry. And then she realized:_ Would it be so different, to be swimming instead of being rained on?_ She looked up at the night sky, cloudy and gray. Where was she? _Who_ was she? Emerald frowned. She took a deep breath, and dove down into the water.


	5. Chapter Four: Cannonball's Idea

An Experiment Called Emerald: Chapter Four

Cannonball's Idea

"What's… going… on?" moaned Emerald. She had woken up on the hard, stone ground in the middle of a cave. She could hear the wind howling outside, as rain fell down and the waves lashed up against her hiding place.

Emerald moaned again. The last thing she could remember was diving into the water to become a fish, and then passing out from lack of air. No one had told _her_ you couldn't breathe underwater.

She sat up. "Where… am I?" she said slowly.

"Nala chuta," said a soothing voice. "Lie down."

Emerald obeyed. The voice had said "you're safe."

A purple experiment with an enormous bottom walked over to her. "Ma meega Cannonball," he told her, "Experiment 520. Inkata?"

"I'm okay," Emerald answered. "But… how'd I get out of the water? I thought I was gonna die."

"I saved you," said Cannonball.

There was an awkward pause.

"Um… thanks," Emerald replied. "I'm Emerald." She held out her hand.

Cannonball shook it and smiled at her. "Don't mention it, cousin."

"Is this where you live?" asked Emerald.

Cannonball nodded.

"I don't have a home," said Emerald.

"That's too bad," said Cannonball. He looked at her strangely. "Do you _want_ a home?"

Emerald nodded her head vigorously. "Yes, please!"

"Then go find Lilo and Stitch," he told her. "Stitch is an experiment like us, and Lilo is a human. They live together in a house on stilts by the cliff. Go see them and they'll find you a home based on your power. Like I make big waves, so I'm here at the beach. What do you do?"

"Find gems," Emerald muttered, looking at her feet.

Cannonball's eyes grew wide. "Emerald… gems… of course! Why didn't I realize it sooner? You're Experiment 012, aren't you? You're the one who ran away!"

"Yeah," said Emerald quietly, "so what?"

"'So what?'" cried Cannonball. "'_So what?_' You're all that Jumba's ever talking about!" Cannonball scrunched up his face and lowered his voice. "'Jumba will get that Experiment 012 if it is the last think Jumba ever does!'" He laughed.

Emerald didn't. "Cannonball, do you know where Jumba lives?"

"With Lilo and Stitch," he replied. "Why?"

"Oh _no_," said Emerald, "now I'll _never_ get a home."

Cannonball thought for a moment. Then he climbed to the mouth of the cave. "The rain's stopped!" he told Emerald happily, and jumped into the water. "_Namitu!_"

"Some help you were!" Emerald called angrily after him. "Leaving me the moment the storm is gone. Hmph." She got up, stretched, and climbed out of the cave.

From the sun's angle in the sky, she figured it was about ten o' clock in the morning. "Let's see… what should I do today?" she asked herself. She doubted she could sneak into the ship to see Moody without being caught, and she couldn't bear the thought of facing Gogo after deserting him the night before. Slushy probably had customers, and Cannonball obviously was more interested in "namitu" then her.

And then his words came back to her… "_Go find Lilo and Stitch. Go see them and they'll find you a home._" A home greatly appealed to her, but then she thought of Jumba.

"I am _not_ going to be killed," she said aloud, and dismissed the thought.


	6. Chapter Five: The Killer

An Experiment Called Emerald: Chapter Five

The Killer

Gogo was taking a walk down Main Street when he realized he was being followed. He grumbled to himself. Why did so many Earth kids think that because he looked different from them, they just _had_ to follow him and see where he was going?

He turned around and said, "Go away! Stop following me, you worthless human—oh, it's you." He blushed. It was an experiment. "Oh, hi, cousin… sorry about that… um… what did you say your name was again?"

"Moody," she replied. "And I know you. You're Gogo, Emerald's booshibu."

"Yeah," Gogo agreed, "that's me." He paused. "Hey, wait a minute… did you say I was Emerald's _booshibu_?"

"Aren't you?" asked Moody.

Gogo shrugged. "I guess. Maybe. We're really more of just friends. But she ran away from me last night."

"Ran away? Why?"

"I dunno."

Moody frowned. "I'll see if I can get her to reveal her secrets. Emerald likes me. She'll tell me anything."

"We don't know where she is," Gogo replied. "And besides, she's been acting weird lately."

_Because she loves you_, thought Moody, wondering how on earth he hadn't noticed that Emerald had a crush on him. But she just said, "I'll see what I can do."

Moody went to the beach. "Eeeeeeemraaaaald," she called. "_Eeeeeeeeeemraaaaaaaaaldddd!_"

No one answered.

"I'll try somewhere else, then," Moody said loudly. "Too bad Emerald isn't here. I have a jewel in my hand I wanted her to check out."

Moody heard a shriek. "No!" the voice cried. "I won't! I'm not your slave! You're not gonna find me!"

Moody chuckled. "Uh-huh. Right."

"Go away," came Emerald's voice.

"Em…," said Moody, sighing, "what are we going to do with you?"

"Go away. _Now_."

"Emerald, where _are_ you?"

"Somewhere."

Moody studied where her friend's voice was coming from. "Are you in Cannonball's cove?"

Emerald was confused. "Cannonball's what?"

"Cove."

"What's a cove?"

"A cove is like a—never mind. It's his house."

"Oh."

"Well?"

"Huh?"

"Are you in his cove or not?"

"Oh. Okay. Good question, Moody. Umm… can I get back to you on that?"

"No," said Moody, "tell me now."

"Why?" asked Emerald.

Moody sighed. "We need to straighten things out. Why did you run away from Gogo last night?"

She heard a sniffle, and Emerald came out of the cove. "He would have found out somehow," she said softly.

"Oh, Em, he's not gonna find out," said Moody. "Unless you tell him. And even then he wouldn't tell Jumba."

"I want a safe home," said Emerald. "Jumba's not gonna kill me."

"Of course not," said Moody. "Look, why don't you find Stitch and Lilo? They'll give you a home."

"They live with Jumba."

"I'm sure we could work something out—"

"No! I'm not talking to _him_!" cried Emerald. "He wants to kill me!"

Moody shook her head. "This is hopeless."

"I'm living with Cannonball," said Emerald.

"And what, go swimming all day? And have him rescue you when you drown every time?"

Emerald paused. How did Moody know about that? "I'll live with Slushy then."

"He lives with Dupe, and there's not enough room in his cart for three," Moody replied.

"Who's Dupe? Slushy's the only one that lives there."

"Dupe's the orange experiment that works with Slushy. You know, Experiment 344?"

"Oh. Him." Emerald sniffed. "Well, I'll live with… you."

"Bad idea. Gantu will find ya and then it's off to Hämsterviel for you."

"Well… um…" Emerald hung her head. She said softly, "Then I'll live alone."

Moody sighed. "If you want to…" And she walked away.

Moody walked to the golf course to meet Gogo. "So now she wants to live _alone_? She doesn't seem like the loner type," Moody said to herself. "Maybe I can make her come around." She knocked on Gogo's door.

"So, any luck, Moody?" asked Gogo.  
Moody sighed. "Nope. She won't listen to reason."

"Em's like that," said Gogo. "Five percent experiment, five percent cutie, and ninety percent confusion."

"Yeah, now she says she's living alone, and she won't go and see Lilo and Stitch," said Moody. She sighed. "Ah well."

"Wait, who are Lilo and Stitch?"

"You know, a girl and an experiment live together, give us other experiments homes."

"Oh. Um, what's their address?"

Gogo was at Lilo and Stitch's door. "Emerald won't like what I'm doing, but it's for her own good," he said to himself. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

An eight-year-old Hawaiian girl answered it. "Hello?" She smiled. "Oh, a cousin!"

"Yeah. I'm Gogo, Experiment 137. I make people into reckless drivers."

"Okay. I'm Lilo. Uh… who named you?"

"Emerald."

"Who's she?"

"She's another one of us experiments." He shuffled his feet nervously. "Moody told me you find people's one true places."

Lilo was surprised. An experiment had never come to her asking for a home before. "So you want me to find you one?"

"No," he said quickly, "I've got my golf course. But Emerald—she needs a home. She's been acting very strangely. She came to my house in the middle of the night and ran away. She tried to go swimming and ended up almost drowning. She won't listen to anything anyone says. Can you help?"

"I suppose," said Lilo. "Finding experiments a home is my job." She turned around and called into the house, "Stitch! C'mere!"

An experiment that looked sort of like a blue version of Emerald came to the door. Spotting Gogo, he cried, "Cousin!"

"Gogo, this is Stitch. Stitch, this is Gogo." Lilo smiled at them.

"Aloha, cousin," said Stitch.

"Gogo says he has a friend named Emerald who needs a home," Lilo told Stitch. She turned back to the experiment outside the door. "So, which experiment is she?"

"212, I think," said Gogo.

"What's she do?"

"No idea."

"Let's ask go Jumba about her then," said Lilo. Stitch nodded in agreement.  
Gogo followed Lilo and Stitch inside, walking up a flight of stairs into a bedroom. A large purple alien was sitting at a table. He had four eyes and was wearing a bright yellow Hawaiian shirt that was much too small for him.

"Jumba, what's Experiment 212 do?" Lilo asked him.

Jumba turned around. "212 messes with time. Jumba is thinking you named him… Clockwonk?"

"Clockwork," Lilo corrected him. She looked puzzled. "Clockwork's not a girl. Gogo, are you sure she's 212?"

"That's what she said," said Gogo. "Why would she lie to me?"

"Which experiment of which are you speaking?" asked Jumba.

"Emerald. She said she was 212 but I guess she's not. She looks kind of like Stitch here but her fur is fluffier and she's green. She has two medium-length antennae—"

Stitch pulled his antennae out of his head. "Ih?"

"Yes, like that. And her tail is a poof of fur and she has a patch on her chest shaped like a diamond."

"Hmm, Jumba will think about it," he said.

"You seem to know a lot about how she looks," Lilo pointed out. "Did you spend hours just staring at her or something?"

Gogo blushed. "No. I just think she's kind of pretty."

Stitch laughed. "Emerald and Gogo, sittin' in a tree!"

Suddenly Jumba cried out angrily and slapped himself in the face. "Of course! Experiment 012!"

"Well, what's she do?" Lilo asked eagerly.

Jumba scowled. "Naughty experiment. I made her to find gems so Jumba could get rich and whole countries would collapse from poverty! But 012 wouldn't listen. She ran away, leaving Jumba without a penny! I will never forgive that little traitor 012 and if I catch her all I want to do is destroy her!"

"So she didn't make you rich. That's no reason to destroy her," said Gogo, nervous that Jumba would start screaming again.

"Ah, but that is not all she has done! When angry, 012 can posses the power of any kind of earth around her, gem or not. In such a fury at Jumba, she killed another experiment and almost killed Jumba as well!"

There was a long pause. "Who died?" asked Stitch softly.

"Experiment 004," Jumba replied. "Jumba's lab partner. 004 was everything Jumba ever wanted. Until 012… destroyed her."

Gogo gasped. Not only had Emerald lied to him, she was a killer! She'd murdered another experiment, and Experiment 004 at that. He remembered having fun with 004 a long, long while back, before he'd come to Hawaii. She had been a great friend to him, but thanks to Emerald, 004 was gone. He growled, hating Emerald's guts. And to think he'd once called her booshibu! That was the worst part.

"Why are you wondering about Experiment 012?" asked Jumba.

"Cousin need home," said Stitch.

"What? No! The minute we find that little horrible, idiotic creature, I'll shred her to bits! She killed one of your cousins, 626!" cried Jumba.

Stitch's ears drooped. "Well…"

"Maybe we could work something out," Lilo said hopefully.

Jumba snorted. "Never."

"What do you think, Gogo?" asked Lilo.

Gogo growled again. "Kill 'er," he told them. "I don't care what happens to that little liar Emerald. I hate her." And with that he fled from the room.


End file.
